Fish researchers seek help collecting Coho salmon heads

The state Department of Environmental Conservation and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources are asking people to save the heads from Coho salmon caught in Lake Ontario starting this year. It’s part of an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of stocking programs.

The agencies are marking or tagging all stocked Coho salmon. Tags are 1-millimeter-long pieces of coded wire inserted into the snouts of fish. They’re undetectable without specialized equipment, so the fish heads have to be collected to retrieve the tags.

The AP is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, as a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members, it can maintain its single-minded focus on newsgathering and its commitment to the highest standards of objective, accurate journalism.